When she eventually confides in her best friend Summer, she is reminded that what happened was not her fault – and that Trey did commit a crime. Like Bay on Switched at Birth, Marissa didn’t want to get Trey in trouble, and she was also worried that people wouldn’t believe her - but she knew deep down that what happened to her was wrong. When Marissa was assaulted by Trey, she also struggled with reporting. In fact, only 21% of sexual assaults are committed by a total stranger, showing that Marissa's experience was actually very common. And according to RAINN, 3 out of 4 rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. It's important to note that Trey was not a stranger to Marissa – he was her boyfriend's brother, and someone with whom she had become comfortable. It was one of the earlier shows to promote a storyline that focused on sexually fluid characters (we’ll ship Marissa and Alex forever), and it also went deep into the lingering trauma that sexual assault survivors can face. The OC was ahead of its time in a lot of ways. Switched at Birth showrunner Lizzy Weiss explained her thoughts by saying, “The reason I wanted to do this episode is because when I went to college, it was, ‘No means no.’ And today, it's, ‘ Yes means yes,’ which is a totally different perspective.” Not saying no – especially when you cannot say no – doesn’t mean yes. Bay couldn’t give consent because she had been drinking. This episode was crucial because it goes deep into the idea that "no means no" is not an acceptable answer of determining consent. She eventually is able to discuss the incident and explain that yes, she was assaulted, and no, she did not give consent. It isn’t until her mother says the word “rape” that Bay even realizes that what happened was rape. Bay struggles with wondering whether or not she should report, worrying that Tank might get in trouble. Later, she can’t remember ever saying yes to having sex with him. On Switched at Birth, 18-year-old Bay wakes up in bed next to her ex-boyfriend Tank with zero recollection of what happened the night before.
Here are seven examples of TV shows and films that depicted rape culture in a way that taught us an important lesson about sexual assault and rape culture, and show just how far we need to go in tearing down the idea that anyone else ever has a right to your body. While some of those scenes can be extremely difficult to watch, they also serve as an important reminder that sexual assault is never the victim’s fault, and that consent is always essential. There are, however, some shows and movies that do a good job explaining the reality of and context around sexual assault on-screen. One only needs to look as far as Game of Thrones to see how often sexual assault is depicted in one show alone - as of last year, it was over 50 times - but only a fraction of those stories were told from the survivor's perspective, or in a way that helped serve a plot or move a conversation forward.
Unfortunately, not every single TV show or movie knows how to handle sexual assault and rape culture in a manner that promotes understanding rather than victim-blaming. In an ideal world, these scenes could help get us talking about assault and understanding consent, and reminding survivors that what happened to them was not their fault. Though survivors of sexual assault are often discouraged from sharing their own stories for a multitude of reasons - whether it's due to fear of retaliation, stigma, or simply not being believed, we live in an age where sexual assault scenes are fairly prominent in both film and television.
Raise your hand if you can name a TV show or movie that features a rape scene.